SOME POLITICAL parties treat their would-be voters with contempt, and this has been happily happening in the European elections now completed in the UK, although still ongoing in the rest of Europe, writes Clive Betts from the press gallery at the National Assembly.
If these Euro-politicians’ tricks work, their way will be opened to five years of uninterrupted expenses claiming. And is it necessary to produce a single receipt to either Brussels or Strasbourg ?
In other words, politicians owe a moral debt to those whose votes they are seeking. They must tell us why we should vote for them.
Every political party (and in this election, the closed-lists system means that parties are more important than their candidates) MUST produce the evidence as to why they deserve our vote.
The only way in which each party can make contact with each elector is through the General Post Office, using their right to send a communication to every elector.
According to a list I picked up from the Llandudno (no longer Liverpool) Daily Post, no fewer than ELEVEN parties are standing in Wales.
I live in Caerffili, in a ward long-controlled by Plaid Cymru (which tells you which party should possess a good number of workers locally).
Every afternoon (they don’t deliver early to my street), I have carefully examined the post.
But only ONE party has bothered to send me a communication. That was Rhodri Morgan’s party. In fact, Labour was clever enough to send different messages to me and my wife, so I got a full-as-possible picture of what they stand for.
Nothing from Plaid, despite their reputed strength in the ward. Nothing from the Tories, despite their past appearance in some county borough elections. Not surprised in such circumstances to hear nothing from the Lib Dems; after all, they admitted earlier this week in the Assembly that their previous Euro-election effort five years ago was hardly brilliant.
What about the other parties ? Well, you’ll be glad to know that literature has been seen from the UKIP and from the British National Party. Voters in Radyr, a very post suburb of Cardiff, have been honoured.
Why them and not us ? Perhaps because Radyr is where the BNP and the UKIP get a lot of their money from ?
On Welsh TV I’ve seen a political broadcast from the Greens (ie the Green Party of England and Wales – although mainly of England because their advert was either not translated, or, if so, was incompetently done).
Not the same Green party as for the Six Counties or for Scotland. Some time ago, there was action towards setting up a separate Welsh party, but Anglo-forces were opposed, since when the party has all but vanished in Wales.
I’ve also seen a Welsh TV broadcast for the Juries.
Their message seemed to be a referendum before anything on state spending is decided - a standard right-wing trick to make sure that taxes are minimalised for people who are rich enough to be able to pay for services we currently receive from the state.
If the services are no longer publicly provided, and the poor won’t be able to afford to pay, it will be bad luck for them. But at least my back pocket remains full of lolly.
The other parties seem a waste of time. No2EU seems another version of UKIP; I merely hope their lead candidate is not the same Robert Griffiths who once was a big noise in the Communists (the tanky version).
I’m surprised to see that the Socialist Labour Party is still around; I thought Arthur Scargill spent all his time down a mine digging for coal.
The Christian Party sounds promising. But I suspect that it is a successor of the Christian Democrats of five years ago who ended ingloriously bottom-but-one of the poll with fewer than 6,000 votes and 0.7pc of the poll. Arthur managed 0.6.
Christian Democracy is an honourable part of the political spectrum on the Continent (although you wouldn’t expect many Brits to know that).
From what I’ve heard, our current Christian Party is extremely non-christian. They seem to line up where the Taliban do with Muslims.
If it’s untrue that they would castrate homosexuals, and that they believe the earth had no existence pre- BC 4004, perhaps they would let me know in the press gallery. Only don’t hurl a brick because you might hit the Presiding Officer, who lives next-window but one.
So, who deserved a vote in Caerffili ? Sounds like Rhodri’s lot. Particularly as, that afternoon, Wayne David, the local MP, had been canvassing with a small group in the town centre.
The Lib Dems have already near-admitted that their campaign this time was only partial. You wouldn’t expect Plaid to make such an admission.
But it’s intriguing that the Tories have failed, too.
This is the quickest way to change my copy. First, the Christians are indeed decidely unchristian, as Bin Laden in unmoslem. And Mr Griffiths has abandoned his tank for a red-coloured web page – No2EU are indeed our old friends. If they were given the publicity they deserved, they would probably overtake the UKIP>
In Sir Gaerfyrddin, we received reasonably well produced bilingual leaflets from Plaid Cymru and Labour but Saesneg only from any other party. To illustrate how far Plaid have moved into the the Obamaesque world of internet politics, we received numerous emails and tweets exhorting us to vote – zilch from any other significant party (except Jury who do everything online anyway). Goes to show that some parties are learning. Still clumsy but getting there.
Wow, so Wayne David came out for one afternoon.. wow, that was nice of him. Sure he wasn't just going shopping and stopped for a photo-op? Add that Kinnock/Izzard one in Cardiff, brings the total to.. two?
Plaid were hitting every town in the valleys. EVERY TOWN.
Huw Lewis in sensible comment shock ! But can we also have as part of the deal Wigley back ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8086310.stm
Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University says: The Labour Party were clearly the principal losers where the BNP's vote went up most. In areas where the BNP vote went up by more than three points their vote was down by eight points, whereas where the BNP's vote fell Labour's vote fell by only five points. This three-point difference is much bigger than the equivalent statistics for the Conservatives and Lib Dems. In contrast, above-average UKIP increases in their share of the vote seemed to have hurt all of the Westminster parties. Thus, it seems possible that UKIP may have picked up some of the anti-Labour protest vote as well as pinching votes from the Conservatives.